Great idea, now just to keep Monsanto and their local buttkissing goons in the DNR off this guys back, cause farmers not having to buy seed from them is kind of a threat to their insane business model, urgh.

Great idea, now just to keep Monsanto and their local buttkissing goons in the DNR off this guys back, cause farmers not having to buy seed from them is kind of a threat to their insane business model, urgh.

Well now the college has gotten in on it too - not to mention the more discreet urban farming with which we got the Monsanto-bootlicking DNR playin whack a mole with right now, plus bribing the guys (who themselves feel this is both a waste of time and resources, and just plain flat out sheer petty malice) who are supposed to be tearing up the fields with fresh produce...

Quote: Although the rabbit depicted in these photographs may seem almost unbelievably large, it is (or was) in fact a real animal and the images are authentic. According to a February 2007 Washington Post article, the colossal bunny in the pictures is a German gray giant named "Robert" who weighed in at at whopping 23 pounds (10.4 kilograms). The man holding Robert is Karl Szmolinsky, a long-time rabbit breeder who lives in Eberswalde, a town in eastern Germany.

Szmolinsky and his giant rabbits gained the attention of the media after he agreed to sell some of his animals to the North Koreans to be used in a breeding program designed to help alleviate chronic food shortages in that country. Because of the large size of the breed, North Korean diplomats felt that Szmolinsky's rabbits would be a good choice as breeding stock. Indeed, Szmolinsky notes that each of his giant rabbits can yield up to 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) of tender meat.

In December 2006, a collection of carefully selected rabbits, including Robert, was transported to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Szmolinsky was later informed that the rabbits arrived safely in North Korea.

Sadly, what happened to Robert and the other bunnies after their arrival is somewhat unclear. The secretive North Koreans remain tight-lipped about the success or failure of the breeding program. In fact, Mr Szmolinsky later received word that the rabbits he supplied may have been eaten at a birthday banquet for North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, rather than used as breeders as he intended. Thus, poor Robert may no longer be with us.

Ryan Drabek, director of OC Animal Care, said his office has gotten multiple
calls about the animals, which have been described as white and possibly
domesticated. Officials are now looking for the animals.

"We've gotten calls," Drabek said. "So far, nobody's been able to provide any
information about who did the dumping. Obviously, animal abandonment is
against the law. It would be nice if anyone could contact us with a license
plate or anything that could assist us."

Drabek did not have a description of the vehicle that dropped off the rabbits.

The surviving rabbits, he said, were "all over the place," and some people were
tossing carrots to them.

"If they didn't get eaten, they're probably still hopping around the area,"
Peterson said.

. . . . .The worst and most frequent consequence of paranoia is that it's self-fulfilling.

As to bunnies and Easter, around here places won't allow rabbits to be sold or adopted just before Easter, any more than they'll allow black cats to be adopted just before Halloween.

As to owning them, we had seven, all dwarf bunnies, and I loved them dearly. Anyone who gets a rabbit as a pet should get it fixed immediately--aside from keeping them from "breeding like rabbits", it avoids a number of health issues. Or if you don't want to, cage them separately, you don't get more rabbits, simple as that. Rabbits make sweet pets, long as you're not looking for pet with any smarts. If you're not, snakes are much easier to care for. I've only got one rabbit left, which we adopted from a yuppie family who didn't even clean his cage and kept him in a cage in the bathroom: "We tried to let him live in the bathroom, but I ended up having to replace all the molding!" (horrors). They got him for the younger son who, predictably, lost interest fairly quickly, resented having to care for him, so he ended up in the bathroom, all alone all the time. They said "we can't even get him out of his cage without a towel, he BITES!" Soon as we got him home, I opened the door to his cage, left him alone, and he was happily hopping about within ten minutes...he NEVER bit anyone. Idiots. We changed his name from "Snowball" (how inventive) to "Gozer" because he was the most busy bunny of the lot, so "Gozer the Traveler" seemed to fit (anyone remember where it's from?). I can't have any more rabbits--huskies you know--but he's a sweet little thing and goes down to Choey's room where it's safe to do his "traveling".

People shouldn't be allowed to have rabbits without knowing what they're getting into (come to think of it, same is true for huskies!); makes me sick to see kids in one of the only two pet stores around here who sells them pick them up, maul them, beg to take them home and their stupid parents give in...I shudder to think of the bunny's future.

Wow, Oonj, you keep blowing me away; I had a Dwarf Rex and a Netherland, and they were my two favorite bunnies--especially the Netherland. I about died when she passed, unexpectedly, just keeled over. Midi was the bunny of my heart, and she gave as good as she got; she was the only one of all of them who gave little bunny kisses! She was my snuggle bunny:

Our Dwarf Rex was a rescue from a pet shop. She was the last in the litter and nobody had taken her, so she grew too big and there was another litter coming along. She would have gone back to the breeder, and probably be sold for snake food or to be eaten, so I convinced him to let me take her. All the handling had made her skittish as hell (probably why nobody buy her) and that never changed, but she mellowed out by about half while she was here. She was a kick in the head. A couple of people and I spent YEARS trying to convince Elvis, the shop owner, to stop selling bunnies...finally he did, and now sells, of all things, pet CHICKENS!

She was the most beautiful of our rabbits...fawn colored, just like a "real" rabbit, and had the knack of getting out of just about anything! She chewed holes in every cage I put her in (until I got one with metal bars!)--if she couldn't get all the way out, she'd content herself with sticking her head out:

She looked almost exactly like your picture of the Rex:

The others we had were mostly mixes, adopted Hotots and stuff:

Pukin'--a Polish Dwarf--she was my first, and she was a kick in the head. Full of shit and feisty as hell--one of our two outdoor buns, her wooden hutch was up against my Outback bed, with a hole so she could climb through. She and Tashi were best buds when he was a pup; I separated them when he got bigger, afraid he'd hurt her, and they both grieved through the gate. So I let her out--she went after Tash as much as he went after her; I'd see him flying around a corner with her attached to his hip! The one day he came to me while I was on the computer and dropped her behind my chair and howled and cried--I think she zigged when she should have zagged, 'cuz her neck was broken.

Frodo, Jo's rabbit that she left behind when she returned to England. Definitely the acrobat of the family, and a real character:

And the only remaining one, Gozer...the quiet bunny (except for his explorations):

Bummer...snowshoe hares no longer change from brown to white because the temps have changed? There goes another species... It's so damned sad to learn more and more about how man/climate change are screwing things up.

Wish I could have buns again...but then, I wish we could have a cat (just one, mind you!) again, too. Ah, well...

WICHITA, Kansas -- A local woman shares her love for bunnies with people
in the community who need a little unconditional love themselves.
. . .
But whether floppy-eared or not, Joyce says animals possess a therapeutic
power with which humans can't compete.

"The clients would visit with the rabbit where they wouldn't interact with
other people," says Joyce.

Absolutely true, Oonj. I've spent many an hour communing with my buns, an dholding them and stroking them has always made me feel good...or "better" on bad days at least!

I think ANY animal (mostly mammalian, I admit) gives good vibes and good feeling, and lord knows there are enough running around who need to feel good!!! And humans can't compete, she's absolutely right about that.

Annnd then,

Quote:Brendan's mother Georgia says they've been a waiting list for five years and counting to enroll Brendan in state-funded day programs for people with disabilities. With state funding cuts, there's no end to the wait in sight.

Oh, that is SO KEWL! Never seen anything like that before...excellent little athletic competitors! Ours jumped and stuff, but I never knew you could TRAIN them to do agility! Gotta show Jim that one, he'll get a giggle out of it. Many thanx.

Oh yes, that's what Monster does, those things - he's huge, but a lot of that bulk is leg muscle so he can really soar when he wants to, some kid at Kiras school owns him.

Locally, we've had a pair of foxes move in, but they're quite sneaky and DAMN quick, I've been unable to get any pics cause of this, but on the plus side they're keepin the possum and groundhog population down, which is cool - I don't think they'd take on the raccons though, cause they're pretty big and even fat and lazy would put up more of a fight.

Of course, said foxes being spotted around here means imma have to hear that whole kitsunekami bolus all over again from Eggo and Rolo when they hear about it, bleh.

Bunny Love is a guardian angel, complete with wings and a heart that sings,
who interacts with children and gives out toys. Bunny Love delivers messages
of hope and love at different children's groups and events. The idea behind
Bunny Love, and the Bunny Love Foundation, is to let kids know that they are
never alone with Bunny Love.

Wow, that's like an American variation on Nezca Nine-Tails (The Kami that Yuriko believes me affiliated with), only a whole lot nicer.
Doubly ironic given my subbing in for the easter bunny earlier this year.

Oooh, what a cutie! I wonder if just a baby, or a baby dwarf Netherland?

That other one, tho'; gross (and scary!). Take away the teeth, and it looks exactly like my very first bun...which makes it doubly scary 'cuz she was a feisty bitch! Named her 'Bo, for Bodega, 'cuz when pissed her personality came straight out of The Birds; she'd have LOVED teeth like that!

I’m having a mental war with a rabbit. So far the little devil has eaten two
different plantings of broccoli and cabbage to the nub, feasted on innumerous
strawberries, sacked my lettuce crop, and chomped the carrot greens to the
ground. It ‘s not a big rabbit, mind you . . .

Oonj: Could this be Evil disguised as Pure Cuteness?

=========================
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. ~Charles R Swindoll

I thought it was a great small scale story about struggles, that had interesting animal characters. It didn't fully succeed in not anthropomorphizing the characters, but I thought it did better than most, and the dark themes and ever present danger of the story and subtle political commentary appealed to my sense of reality.

Why would you hate what you are? What happened is just nature's way of keeping the population down, it had nothing to do with you. Haven't seen momma either? That's too bad, given how mellow she was to your company. But you can get more bunnies in your yard, there's an easy way: plant virtually ANY vegetable, then wait. If you're willing to put the time into it, you can tame a couple over time and then you'll not only have bunnies back in your yard, you'll no doubt have more litters!

I do know how you feel, tho', believe me. I have four feeders out back strung from from the hanging-plant chains that criss-cross our back yard--three for the birds and one for squirrels...tho' of course the squirrels eat from all of them (!). The squirrels are quite familiar with us, and this year we got to see the babies learning how to access the feeders, balance on the chains to run back and forth (very funny), hang over the endge of the feeder to get to the bird seed, etc.

There was one little guy in this year's litter, a red squirrel with a scuzzy tail (their tails are usually full and bushy and beautiful). I'm guessing he was the runt. He was having a hellofa time learning balance, and gave us much amusement watching him do so. You've probably already guessed; few days ago I heard a "noise" from up in the redwoods--one of the dogs giving a short yelp, and I just KNEW. Sure enough, racing up there I found two huskies staring down at Scuztail's body. They had backed away because I was yelling as I ran up there; two huskies looking from squirrel to me with very puzzled looks on their faces. Best guess is he lost his balance and fell out of the redwood trees, because dogs just DON'T catch squirrels. Broke my heart, too, so believe me, I empathize.

I can't get mad at them; while it's one of the aspects of huskies I hate most, it's just genetics and they don't understand. Nonetheless I locked them in the house the rest of the day and we didn't "speak", much to their confusion.

You know, in both cases there was nothing either of us could do. You couldn't have moved the kits and have them survive, and you couldn't know what was going to happen. So don't blame yourself; shit happens.

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